The fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of a house fire in Auburn on Saturday morning.

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Nobody was home when the blaze broke out at the two-unit house on Route 136 at about 8 a.m., fire officials said. A neighbor called the Auburn Fire Department and a quick response likely saved the house, the owner said.

“They was going to close it but enough people got up a petition and they kept it open and the fire department told me if they had been further away, I could have lost the whole place, so I really hope they take that into consideration and keep that place open,” said John Wheeler, the homeowner.

There was not a lot of visible damage from the outside of the house, but Wheeler said there’s a lot of fire, smoke and water damage inside.